Elastic headwear

ABSTRACT

Elastic headwear has a head covering portion being stretchable in at least a circumferential direction thereof, and a visor portion connected to the head covering portion. The visor portion is stretchable in at least the circumferential direction of the head covering portion. The elastic headwear is capable of stretching throughout its whole portion since the visor portion as well as the head covering portion can be stretch in the circumferential direction.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to elastic headwear, and more particularlyto elastic headwear that can accommodate a wider range of head sizes.

(b) Description of the Related Art

Conventional elastic headwear such as a cap and a hat includes anelastic crown portion and a stiffened visor portion which is coupled tothe elastic crown portion. The elastic crown portion of the headwear iscomposed of a plurality of pieces which can stretch in a circumferentialdirection to accommodate a variety of head sizes. However, front piecesof the crown portion to which the stiffened visor portion is coupled arestiffened in order to retain the shape of the headwear, so only theremaining pieces of the crown portion can stretch according to the headsize. Therefore, the conventional headwear fits a somewhat limited rangeof sizes, so it cannot cover head sizes from children to adults.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the prior art described above, it is an object of the presentinvention to provide elastic headwear having an elastic head coveringportion being capable of stretching throughout its whole portion toaccommodate a wider range of sizes.

It is another object of the present invention to provide elasticheadwear having a comfortable fit regardless of head size.

To achieve these and other objects, as embodied and broadly describedherein, elastic headwear includes a head covering portion beingstretchable in at least a circumferential direction thereof; and a visorportion connected to the head covering portion. The visor portion isstretchable in at least the circumferential direction of the headcovering portion.

The elastic headwear preferably has a stretchable lining, stitched oradhered to an inside of the head covering portion, for retaining a shapeof the head covering portion.

The elastic headwear preferably has a stretchable sweatband connected toan interior circumference of the head covering portion. The stretchablesweatband comprises a plurality of line cutting sections. Each linecutting section is formed perpendicular to the circumferentialdirection.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method offorming elastic headwear includes:

forming a head covering portion to be worn on a head of a wearer, thehead covering portion being stretchable in at least a circumferentialdirection thereof; and

forming a visor portion connected to the head covering portion, beingstretchable in at least the circumferential direction of the headcovering portion.

Both the foregoing general description and the following DetailedDescription are exemplary and are intended to provide furtherexplanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention,and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles ofthe invention:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of elastic headwear according to afirst embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a bottom view of the elastic headwear of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a stretchable sweatband which is applicable to theheadwear of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of elastic headwear according to asecond embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a bottom view of the elastic headwear of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of elastic headwear according to athird embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherelike numerals of reference designate like elements throughout.

Referring to FIGS. 1-2, a cap according to a first embodiment of thepresent invention has a crown portion 1 and a visor portion 3. The crownportion 1 serves to cover the wearer's head, and the visor portion 3,which is coupled to a front part of the crown portion 1, serves to shadethe wearer's face and eyes when the cap is worn. The crown portion 1 iscomposed of a plurality of elastic pieces 1 a-1 f which havestretchability in at least a circumferential direction of the crownportion 1. Each elastic piece is not limited to fabric, but can be madeof any kind of elastic material.

Stretchable linings 5 and 7 are stitched or adhered to the inside of thefront pieces 1 a and 1 b of the crown portion 1 in order to retain theshape of the crown portion 1. The stretchable linings 5 and 7 havestretchability in at least a circumferential direction of the crownportion 1. The material of the linings 5 and 7 may be selected fromstretch fabric or stretch synthetic resin.

The visor portion 3 is also stretchable in at least the circumferentialdirection of the crown portion, which is an arrow direction of FIG. 1.The material of the visor portion 3 may be selected from stretch fabricor stretch synthetic resin.

The crown portion 1 preferably has a stretchable sweatband 9 connectedto an interior circumference of the crown portion, as shown in FIG. 2.As shown in FIG. 3, the sweatband 9 has a plurality of line cuttingsections 9 a along the lengthwise direction in order to stretch in awider range. Each line cutting section 9 a is preferably formedperpendicular to the lengthwise direction.

When a wearer wears the cap as shown in FIGS. 1-2, the cap stretches inthe circumferential direction. Specifically, all pieces 1 a-1 f of thecrown portion 1 stretch in the circumferential direction, so the visorportion 3 which is connected to the front pieces 1 a-1 b also stretch inthe circumferential direction. The stretchable lining 7 as well as thesweatband 9 of the crown portion 1 also stretch in the circumferentialdirection. Therefore, the crown portion 1 may stretch throughout itswhole portion, resulting in a wider stretch range to accommodate avariety of head sizes from children to adults.

Referring next to FIGS. 4-5, a hat according to a second embodiment ofthe present invention will be described. The hat has a crown portion 10and a visor portion 30. The crown portion 10 serves to cover thewearer's head, and the visor portion 30 is coupled to the crown portion10 around its entire lower hem.

The crown portion 10 has stretchability in at least a circumferentialdirection thereof, and can be made of elastic fabric or any kind ofelastic material.

The visor portion 30 is also stretchable in at least the circumferentialdirection of the crown portion, which is an arrow direction of FIG. 4.The material of the visor portion 30 may be selected from stretch fabricor stretch synthetic resin.

It is possible to apply a stretchable lining which is stitched oradhered to the inside of the crown portion 10 in order to retain theshape of the crown portion 10. A stretchable sweatband is alsoapplicable to the interior circumferential of the crown portion 10,although is not shown in the drawings. It is possible to use thestretchable sweatband shown in FIG. 3.

The hat of FIGS. 4 and 5 stretches in the circumferential direction (anarrow direction in FIG. 4) when a wearer wears it. Specifically, thecrown portion 10 stretches in the circumferential direction, so thevisor portion 30 also stretches in the circumferential direction.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a visor cap according to a third embodiment ofthe present invention will be described. The visor cap has a rim portion11 for encircling the head, and a visor portion 31 coupled with a frontside of the rim portion 11.

The rim portion 11 can be provided as either a single piece or asseveral pieces, which are stretchable at least in the circumferentialdirection.

The visor portion 31 is also stretchable in at least the circumferentialdirection of the crown portion, which is an arrow direction of FIG. 6.The material of the visor portion 3 may be selected from stretch fabricor stretch synthetic resin.

It is possible to apply a stretchable lining which is stitched oradhered to the inside of the rim portion 11 in order to retain the shapeof the rim portion 11. A stretchable sweatband is also applicable to theinterior circumferential of the rim portion 11, although is not shown inthe drawing. It is possible to use the stretchable sweatband shown inFIG. 3.

Similar to the cap as shown in FIG. 1, the visor cap may stretchthroughout its whole portion, resulting in a wider stretch rangeaccommodating a variety of head sizes from children to adults, when awearer uses it.

The present invention is not limited to the cap and hat described above,which merely show examples as a kind of application, and it may beapplied to various other kinds of headwear.

As described above, according to elastic headwear of a preferredembodiment of the present invention, elastic headwear is capable ofstretching throughout its whole portion since the visor portion as wellas the head covering portion can stretch in the circumferentialdirection. The headwear has a wider stretch range accommodating avariety of head sizes from children to adults.

While this invention has been described in connection with what ispresently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment,it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to thedisclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to covervarious modifications and equivalent arrangements included within thespirit and scope of the appended claims.

1. Elastic headwear comprising: a head covering portion being stretchable in at least a circumferential direction thereof; a visor portion connected to the head covering portion, being stretchable in at least the circumferential direction of the head covering portion.
 2. The elastic headwear as recited in claim 1, further comprising: a stretchable lining being stitched or adhered to an inside of the head covering portion and retaining a shape of the head covering portion.
 3. The elastic headwear as recited in claim 1, further comprising: a stretchable sweatband connected to an interior circumference of the head covering portion.
 4. The elastic headwear as recited in claim 3, wherein the stretchable sweatband comprises a plurality of line cutting sections, each line cutting section being formed perpendicular to the circumferential direction.
 5. The elastic headwear as recited in claim 1, wherein the head covering portion is a crown portion.
 6. The elastic headwear as recited in claim 1, wherein the visor portion is connected to a front size of the head covering portion.
 7. The elastic headwear as recited in claim 1, wherein the visor portion is elongated around an entire circumference of the head covering portion.
 8. The elastic headwear as recited in claim 1, wherein the head covering portion is a rim portion.
 9. A method of forming elastic headwear, comprising: forming a head covering portion to be worn on a head of a wearer, the head covering portion being stretchable in at least a circumferential direction thereof; and forming a visor portion connected to the head covering portion, being stretchable in at least the circumferential direction of the head covering portion.
 10. The method as recited in claim 9, further comprising: forming a stretchable lining which is stitched or adhered to an inside of the head covering portion, for retaining a shape of the head covering portion.
 11. The method as recited in claim 9, further comprising: forming a stretchable sweatband connected to an interior circumferential of the head covering portion. 